# Kerala Football Association

The Kerala Football Association (abbreviated Kerala FA), formerly the Travancore-Cochin Football Association, is one of the 36 Indian state football associations that are affiliated with the All India Football Federation (AIFF). It sends state teams for Santosh Trophy and Senior Women's National Football Championship.

## History

Football has been a passion of thousands of Malayalees for the last several decades—much before the state of Kerala was formed on 1 November 1956. Kerala Football Association was formed in 1948 to directly oversees the development of football in Kerala from grassroots to senior level.
Later the headquarters of KFA was moved to Kollam after P. Laxmanan Pillai was elected president and K. Thankappan honorary secretary. KFA saw a new breed of organizers taking over the reins in the 1970s with former mayor of Cochin A. K. Seshadri becoming its president.

### 2021 privatization

On 9 October 2021, Kerala Football Association signed a twelve year long deal with Meeran Sports LLP and Scoreline Sports Pvt Ltd. The deal was inspired from masterplan prepared by Rob Baan, former technical director of AIFF. The consortium is responsible for getting investments worth around Rs 350 crore into the football ecosystem over the 12-year period. As per the agreement, consortium will form Kerala Super League, initially planned to further develop youth local players in senior transition.

## Affiliated district associations

All 14 districts of Kerala are affiliated with the Kerala Football Association.
| No. | Association | District |
| 1 | Alappuzha District Football Association | Alappuzha |
| 2 | Ernakulam District Football Association | Ernakulam |
| 3 | Idukki District Football Association | Idukki |
| 4 | Kannur District Football Association | Kannur |
| 5 | Kasaragod District Football Association | Kasaragod |
| 6 | Kollam District Football Association | Kollam |
| 7 | Kottayam District Football Association | Kottayam |
| 8 | Kozhikode District Football Association | Kozhikode |
| 9 | Malappuram District Football Association | Malappuram |
| 10 | Palakkad District Football Association | Palakkad |
| 11 | Pathanamthitta District Football Association | Pathanamthitta |
| 12 | Thiruvananthapuram District Football Association | Thiruvananthapuram |
| 13 | Thrissur District Football Association | Thrissur |
| 14 | Wayanad District Football Association | Wayanad |

## Kerala Football League pyramid

Kerala Premier League :
| Tier | Division |
| I $_{(Level5onIndianMen'sfootballPyramid)}$ | Kerala Premier League $_{↑promote(I-League3)↓relegate}$ |
| II $_{(Level6onIndianMen'sfootballpyramid)}$ | Kerala Premier League Second Division $_{↑promote}$ |

## Evolution

| Years | Years | 1948 | 1948–1952 | 1952–1970 | 1970–1998 | 1998–2007 | 2007–2013 | 2013–2015 | 2013–2016 | 2016–2017 | 2017–2021 | 2021–2023 | 2024– |
| 2024– ||
| Men's ||||||||||||||
| State leagues | 1 | Formation of Kerala Football Association (KFA) | None | None | None | Kerala Football League | None | Kerala Premier League | Kerala Premier League | Kerala Premier League | Kerala Premier League | Kerala Premier League | Kerala Super League |
| State leagues | 1 | Formation of Kerala Football Association (KFA) | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | Kerala Premier League |
| State leagues | 2 | Formation of Kerala Football Association (KFA) | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | Kerala Premier League Second Division |
| Tournament | Tournament | | None | None | Kerala State Club Football Championship | Kerala State Club Football Championship | Kerala State Club Football Championship | Kerala State Club Football Championship | Kerala State Club Football Championship | Kerala State Club Football Championship | Discontinued | Discontinued | Discontinued |
| Senior Inter-District Men's Football Championship |||||||||||
| Tournament | Tournament | | None | Sait Nagjee Football Tournament | Sait Nagjee Football Tournament | Sait Nagjee Football Tournament | Sait Nagjee Football Tournament | Sait Nagjee Football Tournament | Sait Nagjee Football Tournament | Not conducted | Not conducted | Not conducted | Not conducted |
| Women's ||||||||||||||
| State leagues | 1 | | None | None | None | None | None | Kerala Women's League | None | None | None | Kerala Women's League | Kerala Women's League |